Drove by the former "Don't Mess with Texas" billboard that is on 15th street in Tuscaloosa today. It has been modified: the "Texas" is covered up by a stylized "Bama" in Crimson and White. A penguin is holding up a sign with the "Bama" on it, and the penguin is the mascot for "All American Self Storage." The sign also includes a picture of a football player and a generic "Congratulations" to Alabama, 2009 National Champions, etc. etc. 

So, in short, the mysterious "Don't mess with Texas" signs are a marketing ploy by All-American Self Storage company trying to get in on - as the guys on Jox 94.5 happened to be saying as I drove by the sign - the great fun and experience that is Alabama football this year. In a down economy, at least something is looking up...

Naturally, assuming that Texas is Alabama's opponent in Pasadena...

I watched the game vs. Nebraska, and thought of a couple things that might make Alabama fans happy.

1) Texas has moved to imitate Florida. Texas' running game has diminished in each game. They depend on McCoy more and more in a way that makes Florida look 2-dimensional. Whether this move is part of Texas' attempts to make McCoy the Heisman or not: the point is, Texas runs McCoy a lot like Florida runs Tebow. The "Tebow SMASH" meme can be equally applied to Texas. They depend on his arm, and if not that, his legs. He ran through holes that, if against Alabama, would be filled by McClain at the best, Reamer at the worst. I see Alabama's game plan against Texas being similar to that against Florida. The QB is the best player; Shipley is similar to Brandon James or Cooper; and Hernandez is Texas' number 2. 

2) Texas absolutely let their bowels loose against an SEC-style defense. Bo Pelini was LSU's defensive coordinator before taking the job for Nebraska. I think it is safe to say that Pelini has tried to reproduce the same system at Nebraska. Except, Alabama has substantially better players on Defense than Nebraska. I'd like to see OTS' thoughts on this: I think Nebraska ran an SEC-style defense against Texas, but w/o SEC caliber players. In my opinion, Alabama's defense may hold Texas to less than the 13 points Nebraska gave up.

Roll them Tides.

I have a family member on the board of trustees who just called me saying that Julio and Mark Ingram are good to go. He says that it was actually a much nearer thing than any of the reports have suggested, and that he would have bet everything on the NCAA ruling that the two could NOT play. But, as it stands, we are good to go. So lets all let out a sigh of relief and get on with the asswhuppin'.

Do you think they'd dare after what happened to Georgia last year? Check out the link to a picture of a jersey in the article. Vol Orange numbers on a Black jersey = Disaster. Its a shame that Fulmer, aka the "Great Pumpkin" won't be on the sidelines to field his team of jack o' lanterns. Lane Kiffin is clearly the greatest thing to happen to the offseason since the Fulmer Cup.

http://blogs.knoxnews.com/knx/askgriff/2009/06/ut_football_back_in_black_jers.html